Observation / Reflection #4:Be Quiet! I'm Trying To Talk!
In this observation, pay attention to how your teacher manages his or her classroom. What types of disruptions, if any, occur while you're visiting? How do they set the class in motion? How do they deal with interruptions (from the outside) and disruptions (from their students)? Determine whether there are students in the classes that you will teach that are especially troublesome. Ask your CT how he or she addresses these students' needs. Reflect on your "vision" of an ideal science classroom. What classroom policies will you try to implement in YOUR classroom? How does your vision align with your teaching philosophy?
Observation: I began my observation at Coventry High School at the beginning of the day, and Mr. Lukowicz and I discussed what the agenda was for the day. The class was at the end of their unit on Ecology (biomes, etc.) and was going to begin the class with a review using powerpoint and then complete a graphing activity in small groups. He told me while he was lecturing to look around the room and try to pick out any students that I thought may be troublesome or may have trouble paying attention and to see how they acted throughout the lecture and during the activity. He didn't point out anyone in particular, and said that this would be important when I was teaching to know ahead of times students behaviors, especially the ones that may be a problem. The class is a Biology CP class mainly of sophmores with a few juniors who are repeating, and I do have to say that on the whole the class was very well behaved. The first thing I noticed was a group of 4 students in the back who were chatting with each other as the lesson was beginning, but to my surprise after a few minutes they all seemed engaged in the lesson constantly raising their hands to answer questions. Mr. Lukowicz even made a joke to them asking them if they had eaten their Wheaties this morning because they were on a roll. In the back row, there were 2 girls in particular that caught my attention. One girl was reading a book throughout the class and not paying attention while the other had her head down and fell asleep. Mr. Lukowicz either didn't notice the girl reading her book or didn't seem to be bothered by it, but he addressed the girl who had fallen asleep and had another student wake her up. There were also a few students who weren't taking notes throughout the lesson, but after talking to Mr. Lukowicz after class he reminded me that everything that was covered was review and that the students already had the notes. There was one boy in particular I'm worried may be a problem when I'm student teaching. He is very quiet, didn't cause any problems, but during the lecture seemed completely disengaged. He seemed to just stare forward and disregard everything going on around him, and during the activity that could be done in pairs, he simply sat at his desk staring at the floor. The other students seemed to work well in groups, and by the end of the period many finished the activity in a timely manner. There were 2 groups that I noticed seemed to get off task during it, but myself and Mr. Lukowicz periodically walked around the room helping groups out and made sure these students stayed on task by guiding them through the activity when they became lost.
Reflection: All in all this seems like a really good class, and with the block scheduling they were the only class I was able to see unfortunately. I will be student teaching this class though, so it was a good opportunity for them to become familiar to me and more importantly for me to become familiar with them and their behaviors. As the lesson was going on, I had moved myself to get a better angle so I could see both the powerpoint presentation and the students at the same time. As I did, I moved closer to a few students who immediately straightened up and focused on the lesson at hand. Even though they had just met me and knew I didn't have the same authority as Mr. Lukowicz, this goes to show how walking around the class during a lesson makes a big difference in trying to keep students focused throughout it. Out of the students I picked out, the group of students who are chatty seem to like to talk a lot, but when they worked together on the activity they seemed to get their work done in a timely manner and stayed on task while talking about things that didn't necessarily pertain to the lesson. It's something to watch, but I don't think these students will pose a big problem while student teaching. The student who had her head down had said she didn't feel good (along with 2 others in the class), and being first period a lot of students were most likely tired. I'm going to have to keep an eye on her and see whether she doesn't pay attention regularly or if she was just not having her best day. The student who was reading her book finished the activity very quickly by herself, and received an A on a lab that Mr. Lukowicz had handed back. She seems very independent and may have already known all the material in the review, and although I don't recommend her reading through a review, as long as she knows the material to the best of her ability I don't see her being a problem in the future. There was only one student who I was concerned about, and that was the student who didn't pay attention during the lecture and didn't even attempt to work on his activity until the second time I came over and talked to him. When I talked to him, I tried to be encouraging assuring him that I would help him with anything he needed. He simply nodded and I walked away for a minute and saw him writing so I assumed he was starting the activity. After walking around the room for a few minutes working with other groups, I came back to him and realized all he had done was copy the data on a separate piece of paper. This wasn't even a step in the activity, so I sat down with him and walked him through the first couple of steps showing him how to use the information to set up his graph. After I got him started, I periodically checked in on him to make sure he was ok and had stayed on task. He didn't finish the activity, but at least made a lot more progress after I had worked with him. I'll have to keep an eye on him as he doesn't really seem to be responsive of anything. I talked to Mr. Lukowicz for a second after class and he had said that he believes the student may need an IEP and that he has struggled so far. He had also noted that he seems to be lacking the social skills the other students have, and that could be another contributing factor to his struggles. Class began so our conversation on him was cut short, but next time I meet with Mr. Lukowicz I'd like to see how he responds to this situation and ask him what he thinks the best approach is.
Observation / Reflection #4:Be Quiet! I'm Trying To Talk!
In this observation, pay attention to how your teacher manages his or her classroom. What types of disruptions, if any, occur while you're visiting? How do they set the class in motion? How do they deal with interruptions (from the outside) and disruptions (from their students)? Determine whether there are students in the classes that you will teach that are especially troublesome. Ask your CT how he or she addresses these students' needs. Reflect on your "vision" of an ideal science classroom. What classroom policies will you try to implement in YOUR classroom? How does your vision align with your teaching philosophy?Observation: I began my observation at Coventry High School at the beginning of the day, and Mr. Lukowicz and I discussed what the agenda was for the day. The class was at the end of their unit on Ecology (biomes, etc.) and was going to begin the class with a review using powerpoint and then complete a graphing activity in small groups. He told me while he was lecturing to look around the room and try to pick out any students that I thought may be troublesome or may have trouble paying attention and to see how they acted throughout the lecture and during the activity. He didn't point out anyone in particular, and said that this would be important when I was teaching to know ahead of times students behaviors, especially the ones that may be a problem. The class is a Biology CP class mainly of sophmores with a few juniors who are repeating, and I do have to say that on the whole the class was very well behaved. The first thing I noticed was a group of 4 students in the back who were chatting with each other as the lesson was beginning, but to my surprise after a few minutes they all seemed engaged in the lesson constantly raising their hands to answer questions. Mr. Lukowicz even made a joke to them asking them if they had eaten their Wheaties this morning because they were on a roll. In the back row, there were 2 girls in particular that caught my attention. One girl was reading a book throughout the class and not paying attention while the other had her head down and fell asleep. Mr. Lukowicz either didn't notice the girl reading her book or didn't seem to be bothered by it, but he addressed the girl who had fallen asleep and had another student wake her up. There were also a few students who weren't taking notes throughout the lesson, but after talking to Mr. Lukowicz after class he reminded me that everything that was covered was review and that the students already had the notes. There was one boy in particular I'm worried may be a problem when I'm student teaching. He is very quiet, didn't cause any problems, but during the lecture seemed completely disengaged. He seemed to just stare forward and disregard everything going on around him, and during the activity that could be done in pairs, he simply sat at his desk staring at the floor. The other students seemed to work well in groups, and by the end of the period many finished the activity in a timely manner. There were 2 groups that I noticed seemed to get off task during it, but myself and Mr. Lukowicz periodically walked around the room helping groups out and made sure these students stayed on task by guiding them through the activity when they became lost.
Reflection: All in all this seems like a really good class, and with the block scheduling they were the only class I was able to see unfortunately. I will be student teaching this class though, so it was a good opportunity for them to become familiar to me and more importantly for me to become familiar with them and their behaviors. As the lesson was going on, I had moved myself to get a better angle so I could see both the powerpoint presentation and the students at the same time. As I did, I moved closer to a few students who immediately straightened up and focused on the lesson at hand. Even though they had just met me and knew I didn't have the same authority as Mr. Lukowicz, this goes to show how walking around the class during a lesson makes a big difference in trying to keep students focused throughout it. Out of the students I picked out, the group of students who are chatty seem to like to talk a lot, but when they worked together on the activity they seemed to get their work done in a timely manner and stayed on task while talking about things that didn't necessarily pertain to the lesson. It's something to watch, but I don't think these students will pose a big problem while student teaching. The student who had her head down had said she didn't feel good (along with 2 others in the class), and being first period a lot of students were most likely tired. I'm going to have to keep an eye on her and see whether she doesn't pay attention regularly or if she was just not having her best day. The student who was reading her book finished the activity very quickly by herself, and received an A on a lab that Mr. Lukowicz had handed back. She seems very independent and may have already known all the material in the review, and although I don't recommend her reading through a review, as long as she knows the material to the best of her ability I don't see her being a problem in the future. There was only one student who I was concerned about, and that was the student who didn't pay attention during the lecture and didn't even attempt to work on his activity until the second time I came over and talked to him. When I talked to him, I tried to be encouraging assuring him that I would help him with anything he needed. He simply nodded and I walked away for a minute and saw him writing so I assumed he was starting the activity. After walking around the room for a few minutes working with other groups, I came back to him and realized all he had done was copy the data on a separate piece of paper. This wasn't even a step in the activity, so I sat down with him and walked him through the first couple of steps showing him how to use the information to set up his graph. After I got him started, I periodically checked in on him to make sure he was ok and had stayed on task. He didn't finish the activity, but at least made a lot more progress after I had worked with him. I'll have to keep an eye on him as he doesn't really seem to be responsive of anything. I talked to Mr. Lukowicz for a second after class and he had said that he believes the student may need an IEP and that he has struggled so far. He had also noted that he seems to be lacking the social skills the other students have, and that could be another contributing factor to his struggles. Class began so our conversation on him was cut short, but next time I meet with Mr. Lukowicz I'd like to see how he responds to this situation and ask him what he thinks the best approach is.